Calls for clinical trials and rethink of legislation as patients
claim that magic mushrooms can relieve excruciating condition

Mark Honigsbaum
Tuesday August 2, 2005
The Guardian

Patients who suffer from cluster headaches - a debilitating medical
condition for which there is no cure - are flouting the government's ban
on magic mushrooms because they say the psychedelic fungi are the only
thing to relieve the pain of their attacks.
In the past two years scores of British cluster headache sufferers
have turned to magic mushrooms, prompted by reports from the US that suggest
that LSD and psilocybin - the active ingredient of magic mushrooms - may
be able to control the intensity and duration of their headaches.

Although some have experimented with psychedelics before, the majority
have no history of drug taking. But many say they would rather risk jail
than forgo a substance that lets them lead a normal life.

Richard Ayliffe, 39, a chronic sufferer from Dudley in the West Midlands,
says he has tried conventional treatments but the only thing to have brought
him relief is magic mushrooms. Without them he says he would not be able
to hold down a job.

"People are quite sympathetic at first but once you've let them down
for the third time sympathy turns to exasperation," he says. "Magic mushrooms
have enabled me to lead a normal life."

Like other members of ClusterBusters - an online forum where cluster
headache sufferers swap notes and discuss alternative treatments - Ayliffe
claims that taking magic mushrooms not only interrupts his cycle of headaches,
but buys him longer remission periods between attacks. Some sufferers claim
that since taking mushrooms they have been pain-free for up to two years.

And, because an attack can come at any time many members stockpiled
mushrooms ahead of the government's ban this month.

Last week one member of the group, a 41-year-old father of two who asked
to be identified only as Lee, admitted he had already taken one dose in
contravention of the ban.

Under the Drugs Act 2005 possession of magic mushrooms is a class A
offence punishable by a seven-year prison sentence. Previously, only psilocybin
and other preparations of mushrooms, but not the fresh product itself,
were controlled.

"The way I see it, either I break the law or forgo the most effective
treatment I have found in nearly six years," says Lee.

Since he began taking mushrooms a year ago, he says the intensity of
his headaches has shrunk by a third and the remissions between attacks
have lengthened to 40 days.

Spurred by the cases, researchers at Harvard Medical School are hoping
for permission from the US food and drug administration to conduct a controlled
trial.

John Halpern and his colleague Andrew Sewell have collected 60 case
studies from members of ClusterBusters. With the support of the Boston-based
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), they plan
to publish the cases in a leading journal with a view to getting FDA approval
for a clinical trial next year.

Maps is already sponsoring an FDA trial of psilocybin for the treatment
of obsessive compulsive disorder.

"At this stage we are not advocating anything - we're just trying to
gather information and see if we can get a sense of the appropriate dosage,"
says Rick Doblin, the president of Maps. "Having said that, I find the
anecdotal reports pretty convincing."

Cluster headaches come in cycles and are caused by a swelling of the
blood vessels in the brain. Sufferers say the pain exceeds that of passing
a kidney stone or of childbirth without anaesthetic.

Some have found the pain, which typically extends over one side of the
head and face, so unbearable that they have committed suicide.

For episodic sufferers, the headaches typically last several weeks then
disappear. But in chronic sufferers - of whom there are an estimated 6,000
in Britain - attacks occur daily, with no more than two weeks' remission
in any 12-month period. They can continue for years.

Conventional treatments include oxygen and Imitex (sumatriptan), an
anti-migraine medication that constricts the flow of blood in the brain.
Since only two injections can be taken in a 24-hour period, however, this
is of little use for chronic sufferers.

Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, can also be used as a prophylactic
against attacks, - but to be effective it has to be taken in high doses,
increasing the risk of such side effects as cardiac arrest.

Peter Goadsby, professor of neurology at the Institute of Neurology,
University College London, and the world's leading expert on cluster headaches,
is sceptical about the mushroom therapy.

He argues that the relief reported by some patients may be a placebo
effect or owing to natural remission. But he does believe the cases warrant
a proper clinical study, particularly as ergotomine - which contains lysergic
acid, a precursor of LSD - has been used to treat migraines for years.

"It's possible that mushrooms have some useful effect but it's far from
proven," Dr Goadsby says. "Cluster headaches are such a devastating problem
that people will turn to anything that seems to work."

But one sufferer, John Hobson, 36, from Barnsley in Yorkshire, says
since experimenting with mushrooms last year his night-time attacks have
ceased and he no longer gets headaches early in the morning. But because
of the change in the law Mr Hobson says he has decided to discontinue the
therapy.

"If I could have mushrooms growing in my garden for medical use and
I knew I wasn't going to get lifted by the vice squad I would most definitely
do it," he says.

"I think the government should introduce an exemption for people in
need."

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
TUCSON, Ariz. - A preliminary study of the active ingredient in psychedelic
mushrooms has found it is effective in relieving the symptoms of people
suffering from severe obsessive compulsive disorder, a University of Arizona
psychiatrist reports.

Dr. Francisco A. Moreno led the first FDA-approved clinical study of
psilocybin since it was outlawed in 1970. The results of the small-scale
study are published in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Moreno said the study's intent was only to test the safety of administering
psilocybin to patients, and its effectiveness is still in doubt until a
larger controlled study can be conducted.

But in each of the nine patients in the study, psilocybin completely
removed symptoms of the disorder for a period of about four to 24 hours,
with some remaining symptom-free for days, Moreno said.

"What we saw acutely was a drastic decrease in symptoms," Moreno said.
"The obsessions would really dissolve or reduce drastically for a period
of time."

Best known among the drug culture as magic mushrooms, the hallucinogenic
fungus remains a popular illicit drug. Although banned by Comprehensive
Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, research into medical uses
is allowed.

The new research does not reflect any change in government policy, said
Rogene Waite, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Currently, there is no treatment that eases symptoms of the disorder
as fast as psilocybin appears to, Moreno said. Other drugs take several
weeks to show an effect, but the psilocybin was almost immediate.

The drug is not one that could be taken daily, Moreno said, and many
questions remain about its use, including if it would be addictive or if
patients would develop a tolerance to the drug.

Moreno hopes to conduct an expanded study that could offer more convincing
evidence of its effectiveness.

"We're very cautious about making too much of the early results," Moreno
said. "I don't want to characterize it as psychedelics are the way to go.
Although it seemed to be safe, this was done in the context of supervision
by trained professionals in a medical setting. This is not ready to be
used by the public just because nine people tolerated it."

Symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder typically develop in the teen
years and can make it difficult hard for patients to lead normal, day-to-day
lives.

The nine patients in the study had a range of compulsions, including
fear of being contaminated, elaborate cleaning rituals, tapping or touching
rituals and mental rituals. One patient wouldn't touch the floor with anything
but the soles of his shoes. Others would shower for hours or put on pants
over and over again until they felt right.

"They know it's senseless. They know it doesn't do anything for them,
but if they don't do it they become very distraught and very uncomfortable
and have a very difficult time functioning," Moreno said.